Developing apparatus



DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FREDERICK o. TRUMP B P 155M ATTORNEYS.

Oct F. o. TRUMP 2,299,045

DEVELOP ING APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 as L g :1: MA.

WQF FIG. 4

40 37 3a 34 I5 I7 FREIDERTCK O. TRUMP VNTOB BY If I a,

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 13, 1942 DEVELOPING APPARATUS Frederick 0. Trump, Bingliamton, N. Y., assigno by mesne assignments, to General Aniline Film Corporation, New

tion of Delaware 8: York, N. Y., a corpora- Applicatlon July 31, 19, Serial No. 348,681

9 Claims. (CI. 95-89) This application relates to a device for the gaseous development of light-sensitive material, and more particularly to novel means for preventing the escape of the developing gases.

Developing machines of this general nature have been used for some years in the phototomary rollers to prevent the escape of the develv oping gases. It has been exceedingly dimcult, however, to provide an adequate sealing means for preventing the escape of such gases at the ends of said rollers. This difiiculty has been enhanced because of the rather wide limits of axial expansion and contraction of the transporting roller.

With these defects and disadvantages of the prior art in view, it is accordingly one object of this invention to provide novel sealing means for preventing the escape of the developing gases in devices of the type described.

A further object is to provide novel sealing means for the ends ofthe customary transport roller in such a device.

An additional object is to provide such sealing means which will permit axial expansion and contraction of the transport roller.

Another object is to provide resilient sealing means for cooperation with the" ends of the transport roller and the customary guide rollers of such an apparatus.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description.

In the drawings, which form a part of this application:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a gaseous developing apparatus in which one form of my novel sealing means has been incorporated;

Figure 2 is an enlarged end view of the transport drum and guide rollers, showing further details of the sealing devices;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a sealing unit for one of the guide rollers; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line H of Figure 2.

In order that those persons skilled in the art may completely understand the nature and scope of my invention, I shall now give a concise and detailed description thereof, with particular reference to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts.

As shown in Figure 1, the gaseous developing apparatus may be incorporated in a suitable outside casing ll. Mountedwithin this casing is a rotatable transport drum or roller II. This conveying roller ii is surrounded throughout a substantial portion of its circumference by suitable walls i! forming an enclosed developing chamber ll.

The material H to be developed is carried through said chamber IS on the surface of the transport roller ii. This material is held in position against said drum by suitable flexible guides ii carried by guide rollers IS. The flexible guides l5 move with the drum Ii and serve to carry the material along the surface of the drum with the sensitized side of the material facing the developing chamber.

The end rollers i1 and it for the flexible guides i! are preferably somewhat larger than the remaining guide rollers 16 and serve to define the entrance A and exit B for the material to be developed. Thus, I have designated roller H as the entrance roller and roller I! as the exit roller.

The developing gas may be supplied in liquid form from a suitable reservoir it. A supply pipe 2. carries the desired amount of said liquid to an evaporating trough or gutter ii. A heating unit is preferably contained in said trough in order to assist in the vaporization of the developing gas. The amount of fluid supplied from the reservoir I! may be controlled by a needle valve 22 or other suitable means.

The entrance and exit rollers are provided with suitable supporting miles 3! (Figure 4) mounted in end walls 43 of chamber it. These rollers also have circumferential recesses 24, in which the flexible guide members I! are carried. Due to these recesses the. guides i5 remain substantially flush with the surface of these end rollers and thus permit the rollers to press firmly against the transport drum ii, as at 25. Because of this close contact between these rollers, it isapparent that there will be substantially no leakage of the developing gas between these peripheral portions of the transport and end rollers.

Additional sealing means are provided between the walls I! of chamber l3 and the peripheral portions of rollers l1 and II. Such sealing means may comprise flexible rubber strips 2 (see Figure 1) fastened to the chamber wall I: at :1

and resiliently engaging rollers H and H3 in a substantially gas-tight manner. Here again, the engagement of sealing means 26 with the longitudinal peripheries of rollers l1 and i8 prevents any substantial escape of developing gas along the major portions of these rollers.

In spite of the close fit between the transport drum H and the end rollers l1 and I8 and in spite of the sealing means 26 for the longitudinal surfaces of said rollers, it has previously been impossible to prevent the escape of noticeable amounts of the gaseous developer at the end portions 29 and 30 (Figure 4) of drum I! and rollers H and i8 respectively. Suitable materials have been developed for the manufacture of the transport drum and end rollers, said materials having a very low coefiicient of diametrical expansion. Thus the diameters of the respective rollers remain fairly constant within the customary variations in temperature for devices of this type, and the longitudinal portions of the drum and rollers remain at all times in substantially gastight contact. At the same time, however, the materials from which these members are made, have a rather large coeflicient of axial expansion. Within the usual range of temperature variations, the axial length of the drum and rollers might vary as much as three-sixteenths of an inch'in a forty-nine and one half inch roller. It is partly because of this axial expansion and contraction that no satisfactory methods have been devised for sealing the ends of the rollers, prior to the present invention.

With reference to Figures 2, 3, and 4,1 shall now describe the novel sealing means according to this invention. As shown in the drawings, the exposed portion of the transport drum II is provided at its ends with an. overlapping sealing strip 32. This sealing strip 32 is held in place against the drum by suitable spring arms 36 carried by brackets 35. The spring arms may be spot-welded to the brackets and to the sealing strip or fastened in any other desired manner. This sealing strip is preferably made of stainless spring steel which will be substantially unaffected by the developing gases and which will maintain a resilient and gas-tight contact against the end portion of the circumference of said drum.

Similar sealing strips 34 and 33 are provided for the entrance and exit rollers l1 and I8. These additional sealing strips are also resiliently carried by spring arms 38 on brackets 31. Sealing strips 33 and 34 are likewise preferably made of stainless spring steel in order to maintain the desired sealing contact against the entrance and exit rollers. The ends 39 (Figures 2 and 3) of each of these sealing strips may be turned up slightly as shown, in order that they will not scratch the drum, rollers, or material carried thereby.

The supporting brackets 35 and 31 for the sealing strips 32, 33 and 34 are fastened to the wall 43 of the developing machine by suitable screws 40. These sealing strips form a gas-tight Joint with said wall and prevent the escape of any developing gases adjacent the wall or be-- of reduced diameter, as at. This portion of reduced diameter thus forms a channel 42 between the drum and rollers at these points.

The dimensions of this channel are so chosen that the sealing strips 32 and either 33 or 34 will just fit therein to form the necessary seal. As shown in Figure 4', this recess-or channel extends along the roller a somewhat greater distance than the sealing strips. Thus the rollers l1 and I8 and the drum i I may expand and contract in an axial direction within rather wide limits, without destroying the effectiveness of the present sealing arrangement. 1

As shown also in Figure 4, I have found it 'prefreable to form the channel 42 solely by reducing the diameter of rollers I'ior 53, without cutting down the diameter of the corresponding portion of drum H.

'The separate sealing units, because of their resilient construction, may be mounted in the apparatus after the rollers are in place. It is only necessary to flex the sealing bands slightly in order to permit such insertion. Likewise, it is a simple matter to replace one of these units at any time, if the need should arise.

It will be apparent from the foregoing descrip escape of developing gases between the end wall and roller end in a gaseous developer of the type described, said unit consisting of' a spring steel band for overlappingly surrounding the exposed portions of the roller end, said band being provided with brackets extending at right angles to said band in the plane of one edge of said band for mounting the band on said end wall with said one edge in substantially gas-tight contact with said wall, said band being resiliently deformable for attachment to said roller end and end wall without disturbing the relative assembled positions of the latter.

2. An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a roller mounted between said end walls for guiding the material to be developed, a developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substantial portion of the periphery of said roller, means preventing the escape of developing gases between said last-mentioned wall and the periphery of said roller, and sealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at an end of said roller, said sealing means including a resilient band fastened to one of said end walls and overlappingly surrounding the portion of the roller end which is not surrounded by said chamber.

3. An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a transport roller mounted between said end walls for guiding the material to be developed, a developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a I substantial portion of the periphery of said roller,

means preventing the escape of developing gases between said last-mentioned wall and the periphery of said roller, and sealing means for preventing' the escape of said gases at an end of said roller, said sealing means including a: resilient light-sensitive material, said apparatus havingend walls, a roller mounted between said end walls for guiding the material to be developed, a developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substantial portion of the periphery of said roller, means preventing the escape of developing gases between said last-mentioned wall and the periphery of said roller, and sealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at an end of said roller, said sealing'means including a band of stainless spring steel fastened to one of said end walls and overl'appingly surrounding the portion of the roller end which is not surrounded by said chamber.

5. An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a rollermounted between said end walls for guiding the material to be developed, a'

developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substantial portion of the periphery of said roller, means preventing the escape of developing gasesbetween said last-mentioned wall and the periphery of said roller, and sealing means for preventing'the escape of said gases at' an end of said roller," said sealing means consisting of a band carried by a spring arm fastened to one of said end walls, said bandbeing held by said arm in resilient, overlapping engagement with respect to the peripheral portion of the roller end which is not surrounded by said chamber.

6. An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitiv material, said apparatus having end walls, an axially expandable and contractable roller mounted between said end walls for guiding the material to be developed, a developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substahtial portion of the periphery of said roller, means preventing the escape of developing gases between said lastmentioned wall and the periphery of said roller,

and sealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at an end of said roller, said sealing means including a resilient band fastened to one of said end walls and overlappingly surrounding the portion of the roller end which is not surrounded by said chamber regardless of axial expansion and contraction of said roller.

7. An apparatus for gaseous development 01' light se'nsitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a transport roller mounted between said end walls, a developing chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a' substantial portion of the periphery of said roller and having an entrance and exit adiacent said roller, guide means for holding said material on said roller for movement through the chambensaid guid means including guide rollers bearing against the transport roller at the entrance and exit of the chamber in a substantially gas-tight manner, means preventing the escape of developing gases between the last mentioned chamber wall and the peripheries of said guide rollers, andsealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at the ends of said transport and guide rollers, said sealing'means includins resilient bands fastened to an end wall and overlappingly surrounding the peripheral portions ofthe roller ends adjacent said end wall which are not surrounded by said chamber.

8. An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a transport roller mounted between said end walls, a developingchamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substantial portion of the periphery of said roller and having an entrance and exit adjacent said roller, guide means for .holding said material on said roller for movement through the chamber, said guide means including guid rollers bearing against the transport roller at the entrance and exit of the chamber in a substantially gas-tight manner, means preventing the escape of developing gases between the last mentionedchamber wall and the peripheries of said guide rollers, and sealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at the ends of said transport and guide rollers, said sealing means including resilient bands fastened to an end wall and overlappingly surrounding the peripheral portions of the roller ends adjacent said end wall which are not surrounded by said chamber, the ends of said guide rollers being of reduced diameter and forming channels between said guide rollers and said transport roller, in which said overlapping band ar accommodated without substantial separation of the remaining peripheral portions of said guide and transport rollers.

9.- An apparatus for gaseous development of light-sensitive material, said apparatus having end walls, a transport roller mounted between said endwalls, a developing'chamber having a wall extending between said end walls and around a substantial portion of the periphery of said roller and having an entrance and exit adjacent said roller, guide means for holding said material on said roller for movement through the chamber, said guide means including guide rollers bearing against the transport roller at the entrance and exit of the chamber in a substantially gas-tight manner, means preventing the escape of developing gases between the last mentioned chamber wall and the peripheries of said guide rollers, and sealing means for preventing the escape of said gases at the ends of said transport.

and guide rollers, said sealing means including resilient bands fastened to an end wall and overlappingly surrounding the peripheral portions of the roller ends adjacent said end wall which are not surrounded by said chamber, the ends 01' said guide rollers being of reduced diameter and forming channels between said guide rollers and said transport roller, in which said overlapping bands are accommodated without substantial separation of the remaining peripheral portions or said guide and transport rollers, said channel extending axially along said roller beyond said sealing bands to permit axial expansion andcontraction of said rollers.

FREDERICK O. 'I'RUMP. 

